Recommended Reading:

Sunday, November 20, 2011

It has always grieved me deeply that certain scumbag terrorists such as, Nelson Mandela, Robert McBride, Jacob Zuma, Mac Maharaj (to mention a few), were ever released from prison, as their high-almighty government positions and their conduct since release has served humanity no purpose whatsoever.

Although it’s a really pity that years of government denial and cover-ups have kept most of their evil deeds out of the public eye, it gives me great pleasure to see how the true colours of these so-called ‘anti-apartheid freedom fighters’, and traitor-collaborators such as, FW de Klerk, are being revealed, albeit in drips-and-drabs!

FW de Klerk’s sinister involvement in the Arms Deal scandal was recently exposed in a new and controversial book appropriately titled, “The Devil in the Detail: How the Arms Deal Changed Everything”. De Klerk was very quick to deny everything, but I’m sure the entire truth will eventually surface. Whether the perpetrators will ever pay for their sins in this lifetime, or not, is another story!

Last week Friday (18 Nov) the Mail & Guardian published a story in its regular Friday edition with the majority of the lead article and sections of an editorial blacked out. The full, uncensored, story would have shown that Mr Maharaj lied when questioned under oath by the Scorpions in the course of investigations flowing from the arms deal. The censored version was published on the advice of M&G lawyers, after they were threatened with criminal prosecution and civil court action by Mac Maharaj, who incidentally is also the spokesperson for that other ex-convict… err whatshisname - President Jacob Zuma.

Operation Vula

Operation Vula was an ANC plan to have a structure in place in South Africa to forcefully overthrow the apartheid regime. Although it ran concurrently with the first stages of the negotiation process, not much is known about the operation, and neither is there much known about the role players involved. The operation was the last and largest ANC operation against the apartheid regime.

Mac Maharaj was the commander and master brain of the operation during the 1980’s when the ANC shifted the focus of their terrorist bombing from 20% to 80% civilian targets. He is thus directly responsible for the cold-blooded murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children of all races. He thought nothing of it to plant bombs in shopping centres, fast food restaurants, bars, golf clubs and even hospitals – Sourced from here.

Here follows the latest news…

More Maharaj revelations come to light

STAFF REPORTER JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Nov 20 2011 09:22

President Jacob Zuma's spokesperson Mac Maharaj stands accused of receiving millions in bribes from French arms maker Thales, the company that will be at the centre of the government's arms deal inquiry next year, the Sunday Timesreported.

The paper said that an investigation had uncovered that Schabir Shaik, Zuma's former financial adviser who was convicted of corruption in the arms deal trial, was the conduit used by Thales to channel the money to Maharaj's wife Zarina.

The paper said it had obtained a consultancy agreement between Thales predecessor Thompson CSF and Shaik's company Minderley Investments, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The Sunday Times said the agreement shows that secret payments totalling 1.2-million French francs (R2.3-million) went from the arms dealer's French bank to offshore bank accounts belonging to Maharaj's wife Zarina two months before her husband's department awarded the French company a controversial credit card licence tender worth R265-million.

Documents from the Swiss district attorney's office, which obtained court orders for statements of Zarina and Shaik's Swiss bank accounts, show Shaik's company was used as a conduit to channel the Thales money to Zarina's accounts, said the paper.

It is believed the Scorpions were unable to obtain this agreement, and that this ultimately torpedoed their corruption investigation into Maharaj in 2007.

Maharaj declined to respond to detailed questions on his wife's secret offshore payments from Thales via Shaik's Swiss bank accounts. "These issues" had been investigated by the Scorpions who "did not bring any charges against either of us", he told the paper.

The Mail & Guardian published its regular Friday edition with the majority of the lead article, and sections of an editorial blacked out.

The paper had been threatened with criminal prosecution and civil court action by Maharaj.

"The facts are simple: our story would have shown that Mr Maharaj lied when questioned under oath by the Scorpions in the course of investigations flowing from the arms deal," said editor-in-chief Nic Dawes.

"In seeking to prevent publication, either by a court interdict or the threat of criminal investigation, Mr Maharaj has one objective: to avoid answering to the South African public for either the suspicious payments, or his lies about them."

Charges laid

Maharaj on Saturday formally laid a charge against the Mail & Guardian and two of its senior journalists, Stefaans Brümmer and Sam Sole.

After sending questions to Maharaj on Wednesday this week, the M&G received a letter on Thursday afternoon from Maharaj's lawyers warning of potential criminal prosecution if M&G published the story.

After charges were laid on Saturday, Dawes said: "There's absolutely no basis for criminal charges against Sam and Stefaans or the Mail & Guardian".

Dawes said there had been no clarity on what the precise charges were. "I've got no idea what the charge is -- being in possession of documents is not a crime and that's why I saw there's no basis for criminal prosecution."

The charges are a result of an article the newspaper decided to hold back over threats of criminal prosecution that could carry a jail term of up to 15 years.

Following the M&G's forced suppression, Maharaj released a brief statement on Thursday night accusing the paper of seeking "to hide its complicity in criminal acts by raising the spectre of a threat to media freedom and invoking fears of censorship".

Dawes said: "What's going on here is very simple, Mac Maharaj wants to know who our sources are, he wants to know how much information we have about the serious allegations against him that were raised in investigations flowing from the arms deal and he's trying to abuse the resources of the police and the state in general to secure that information and to distract the public from the questions he ought to be answering."

"We have broken no laws and we will continue to work to bring South Africans information that is their right to know."Read the letter from Maharaj's lawyers here.

Section 28

The story was published with large black print covering sections of the article that were deemed by Maharaj's attorneys as contravening the National Prosecuting Authority Act that makes it an offence to disclose evidence gathered in camera by a section 28 inquiry.

The section can also compel people to hand over relevant evidence. This was used to empower NPA and Scorpions investigations. Under section 41, sub-paragraph 6 of the Act, disclosure of any information gathered from a section 28 interview is a criminal offence. Maharaj and Mathews Phosa have in the past deemed section 28 of the Act unconstitutional.

Maharaj has said the M&G could not have attained the documents lawfully and it was "in blatant and wilful contravention of provisions of the Act".

"In the name of press freedom the M&G arrogates to itself the 'right' to break the law that has been on our statute books since 1998. Their editor Nic Dawes acknowledges as much when he states that they will now seek the permission of the national director of public prosecution, [Advocate] Menzi Simelane, for 'permission to disclose the relevant material'. In short they want the NDPP [National Director of Public Prosecutions] to retrospectively give them legal protection against their unlawful actions," he said.

"Through their sensational and at times distorted reportage, they want to deflect attention from their wrong doing and depict my upholding of my rights embodied in our laws as a threat to media freedom," he added.

'I will take action'

A letter from Maharaj's lawyers, BDK Attorneys, contended that the article by Sole and Brümmer quoted excerpts from an inquiry held under section 28 of the Act.

"We advise you that to the best of our knowledge the [director] has not authorised the disclosure of the inquiry or any part thereof," it said.

The letter warned of "the consequences the use of unlawfully and illegally obtained information had on a publication such as the [British] News of the World".

It said that unless it received an undertaking by 4pm on Thursday that any information drawn from records of the inquiry would not be published, Maharaj would consider appropriate action against Brümmer, Sole and the M&G.

'Vital public interest'

Dawes said the information that Maharaj was trying to keep under wraps was "of vital public interest".

"We have no intention of bowing to his threats.

"We believe that we have every right to publish the information which raises serious questions about the conduct of the man who speaks on behalf of the president.

"However, faced with threats of both civil and criminal action, we have been advised by our lawyers to withhold publication pending an application to the national director of public prosecutions for permission to disclose the relevant material.

We hope that the director, Menzi Simelane, will demonstrate government's professed commitment to transparency," he said.

0
comments
:

Latest 5 Featured Posts:

Operation Vula, its Secret Safari, and Zuma’s band of comrades - Dec. 2013
During 1986 the ANC launched an underground operation called Operation Vula. A lesser-known fact is that it continued to operate after Nelson Mandela's release in February 1990, and for three years after his speech in August 1990 when he reiterated the total commitment of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe and the SACP to the Groote Schuur Minute.

Heritage Day Photographs (Voortrekker Monument) - Sept. 2013
This posting includes a few photographs taken on Heritage Day 2013. The posting introduces an unusual but beautiful new structure called QUO VADIS? (with the question mark) which I’m sure many readers have never heard of.

The Yellow-Bucket Marula Tree: A Mystery Solved! - Oct. 2013
I came across a rather strange phenomenon one day while travelling along the R561 route between Tolwe and Baltimore in the Limpopo province of South Africa. A small yellow bucket was attached high-up in a branch of a Marula tree, hence the name of this posting. It’s a real funny story which I’m sure most readers will enjoy - as much as I enjoyed compiling the article - (with illustrations).

Pretoria’s Monument for Victims of Terrorism - July 2013
Many people (including myself) had almost forgotten about a noteworthy monument in Pretoria that stood at the entrance of the old Munitoria building on the corner of Van der Walt and Vermeulen Streets (now renamed Lilian Ngoyi and Madiba Streets). When the Munitoria building was demolished on 7 July 2013 nobody could tell me whether the monument was still standing or not, so I decided to go look for myself.

Remembering The Battle of Delville Wood - July 2013
14 July marks a day when the South African 1st Infantry Brigade got engaged in the 1916 (WW1) Battle of the Somme, in France. The battle was one of the largest of World War I, in which more than a million men were wounded or killed, making it one of humanity's bloodiest battles. One specific encounter during this battle, known as The Battle of Delville Wood, is of particular importance to South Africa. The posting includes a comprehensive article (with pictures) compiled and written by Petros Kondos.